June's Story - The Sling is not her thing

June suffered with bladder leakage for a dozen years. At first she thought she could manage her symptoms on her own but the leaks got progressively worse over time. June started out with light pads, switching to heavier ones after a while and then eventually inserting a toilet paper plug before the pad. "I sometimes had enough problems that I used two pads a day," she said. "My worst experience was when I was staying in Canada and shopping for the day in Michigan," she said. "I don't remember what caused it, but I had a flood of urine that wet my shorts as well as underpants. I had no change of clothes with me, so I went to a McDonald's and went in the ladies room and took off the wet clothes and dried them under the hand dryer." It was at this point, she decided to ask about a solution at her next physical.

June talked to her internist who suggested a Kegel exercise program at a nearby Women's Health Clinic. There were no immediate openings. "Then I had enough medical problems that my bladder was the least of them," June remembers. By 2006, June was past these problems and ready to make continence a priority once again.

June's internist told her about a "sling" procedure that is often performed for stress urinary incontinence. However, when June met with a Urologist, he explained that the sling procedure would be too risky for her. June was then referred to Cleveland Clinic where she learned about another option for treating stress urinary incontinence: urethral bulking with Macroplastique.

June received the treatment in February 2009. Of her experience she recounts, "This procedure takes about 20 minutes, you don't feel anything, you are wide awake, and you watch it all." During the procedure the Urologist inserts a scope with a camera through the urethra. Macroplastique is then injected around the bladder opening. This additional thickness helps the bladder to remain closed.

"For me, the procedure worked," June said. "My immediate observation was complete control as I had thirty years before." She noted a slight drop in control after three weeks and requested an additional injection at her one-month follow-up appointment. Her Urologist indicated that he never goes back until 3 months. "The doctor mentioned that with time, some people found the muscles seemed to relearn control with no further injections. I didn't believe mine would, but I was wrong." Now, June has had complete control of her symptoms, even without a second procedure.

"For the patient this is such an easy comfortable procedure," June said. "I wish I could have had it several years ago. I highly recommend it." June is especially thankful that there was an alternative to the sling procedure. "Until I met with the doctor at the Cleveland Clinic, no one said a word about anything other than the 'sling.' It is a shame that more people don't know about Macroplastique."

Disclaimer

Macroplastique worked for this patient but not all patients respond the same to treatment. Urethral bulking with Macroplastique is indicated to treat adult female Stress Urinary Incontinence primarily due to a weak or damaged urinary sphincter, otherwise known as intrinsic sphincter deficiency (ISD). Risk information